The Sandwich Eater
by K and Jazz
Summary: "I hate you." "...I know." "Then why are you still here?" "Because I love you." Sasuke didn't make a good first impression on Naruto, and Naruto's innate hate for the boy doesn't help his situation.


'_It doesn't matter how many times you push me away. I'll keep coming back. I like you. I don't know why, but I do, so suck it up.' Sasuke barely had enough time to shove his tongue down Naruto's throat before he felt a fist connect with his face._

-The Sandwich Eater-

Naruto was angry for an obvious reason. He sat, brows furrowed in thought, and arms crossed as he prepared to shut out everything and everyone around him. His bright blue eyes narrowed at the people in front of him. They were all business suits and fake smiles. Naruto reached up and loosened the dark blue tie that suffocated him, and then unbuttoned the first two buttons on his white shirt.

He closed his eyes and let himself get lost in the sounds of the outside. As the door to the office opened and closed, he caught the faint sounds of city life. Laughter, the zooming and honking of cars and the occasional blur of rap music. When the door closed again, Naruto sighed at the loss, only to be blessed with it moments later.

"Naruto, please stop doing that."

The blonde opened a blue eyes and looked at the middle-aged man next to him. His caretaker was a foot shorter than Naruto, very tan and very slim. His brown eyes narrowed to slits as he yawned, the long scar across his nose wrinkled.

"It's your fault. I don't want to be here."

"We need this job Naruto. It's temporary, at least until I find another." The brunette leaned over slightly and re-buttoned Naruto's dress shirt, then tugged the tie once more, all the while muttering about how 'unclassy' Naruto was.

"Iruka Umino, please." Naruto turned his head to face a tall, busty red-head who wore far too much makeup for her pretty face. Iruka smiled politely, adding a little Umino charm.

"Naruto, stay out here and _please _behave." Naruto nodded curtly, and found the concern and distrust in Iruka's eyes slightly annoying. Naruto could handle sitting in a boring ol' lobby, right?"

Moments later, Iruka disappeared behind a wooden door to complete his orientation. Naruto sat and watched the people who floated n and out of the office building; watched their expressions and practically read their minds. Naruto could do that to people, pick them apart and know exactly what they were thinking. He watched a man right now as he sat with his legs crossed, sitting stiffly on the red,oversized, velvet couch. His eyes were folded tightly and his eyes were downcast, green, and peeking at the red-head behind the counter. His assumed wife was oblivious to this as she read a cookbook, completely engrossed in the dessert section.

Naruto fiddled with his fingers, tried to play his PSP and even tried napping before he gave up and made his way to the snack table. It was a small table, showing only juices, cookies and small triangular shaped sandwiches.

His vision zeroed in on the last sandwich, that seemed to be popular by the way the greedy hands were snatching them up and shoving them down their throats. He grabbed a small plate, some cookies and a plastic cup filled with fruit punch. He reached for the sandwich just as another pale hand picked it up and stuck it in his mouth. Naruto was hungry that late Monday afternoon. He skipped breakfast because he woke up late for his last day of school, then missed out on lunch when he remembered he left his lunch money in his 'packed away' underwear drawer. H e managed to eat a few snacks here and there, but definitely not enough to make up for two missed meals.

And so, he lifted his head slowly, following every inch of the form in front of him. His examined the muscled arms, defined chest and the broad shoulders.

Naruto blinked.

The creature…boy…_thing _in front of him seemed to be sculpted and crafted by Gustave Courbet, Naruto's favorite artist. His skin was pleasantly perfect, smooth. Naruto saw his lips next, thin and tinted red because of the juice. His nose was small and slightly, slightly upturned do to the semi-glare on his face. His cheekbones were defined and shaped perfectly as well, as was his jawline. Dark, onyx tinted eyes clashed with blue, narrowing each second. Long eyelashes fanned in slow motion with each blink. Spiked raven hair framed the face called a masterpiece and stuck out in the back, giving him an edgy look.

Naruto wanted badly to touch his face, to see if it was real. To see if something so undeniably beautiful could _possibly _be standing right in front of him.

And then Naruto remembered the boy took his sandwich.

"Can I help you with something?" his voice was so smooth, Naruto could've sworn the words that were just spoken were sung. But although his voice was smooth and deep and captivating, that didnt hide the smugness.

Naruto glared and straightened up. Who did he think he was? _He _took _his _sandwich, not the other way around. Naruto huffed and opened his mouth to retaliate. _'You took my sandwich' _and '_You asshole.' _was at the tip of his tongue, but he stopped when he realized how childish he would sound. He'd only been in this stupid city for three stupid hours, and he wasn't going to ruin his day by picking a fight with a stupid boy.

"Whatever," Naruto gave a fleeting glare before he turned away and went back to his seat.

The blonde angrily shoved his cookies down his throat and guzzled his juice, unable to enjoy either and silently cursing the raven that ate his sandwich. Naruto was generally a laid back person; able to go with the flow and ignore the ignorant people aroun him. He was able to say that about himself before his foster parents abandoned him about a year and a half before. When Naruto came home from school one rainy Tuesday, he found that all the locks to his house were changed. By the time the police came to investigate, his 'parents' were long gone with new names, a new car and a one-way trip to nowhere.

Naruto spent the next eight months skipping from home to home, facing insane mothers, drunk fathers and abusive siblings. It was hard for Naruto to find a home that didn't have occupants with mental problems, but luckily, he was sent to Iruka Umino. By the time Naruto was in Iruka's hands at the age of 15, the boy was already emotionally and mentally scarred do to the eight months of hell, but nonetheless, Naruto tried to take to the man. Iruka was a single, lonely school teacher and very nice to the blonde. Naruto found Iruka's kindness a form of charity, and to protect the last of his sanity, he fought back.

Naruto was constantly being suspended from school for fighting, began failing his classes and tried to toy with Iruka by messing and trashing his things. Naruto even went as far as taking his red BMW for a joy ride which ended in a broken window, a dented hood and a long key line on the passenger side. Iruka didn't get angry with Naruto, not once, but simply tried to talk to him and tell him that he was there to stay. Then one day, Iruka got a phone call from Naruto's school. After a student-who apparently bullied Naruto for months-called Naruto's parents worthless, Naruto beat the boy unconscious. Iruka then realized he could ignore Naruto's rash actions no longer.

Iruka sat Naruto down and told him about his life; about how his parents died in a car accident, about his pain and his broken state, then about his recovery. Naruto felt guilty after hearing about Iruka's life, but after that conversation, he promised he would try to respect the man more.

Not long after that, Iruka was offered a job in the city. He was offered a teaching job at a middle school when one of their teachers were fired. Iruka accepted immediately, and four days later, they were driving to their new apartment in a new city to start their _new _life.

Naruto looked up and surveyed his surroundings. The man from before slipped the red-head a white piece of paper the moment his wife left the room. The blonde rolled his eyes in disgust. How a man was capable of cheating on his partner, he didn't know.

"Naruto?" Iruka approached the teenager, holding a thick manila folder in his hands. "You ready?"

Naruto nodded briefly and followed his caretaker out of the office, not forgetting to stare the cheater in the eyes, saying '_I know what you did.' _without words.

"I have to go by your school to get you registered, then by my classroom to get things set up. Do you think you can handle being home alone?" Iruka asked once they were on the highway. Naruto raised an eyebrow in surprise. Iruka never usually let the blonde out of his sight longer than an hour, but he planned on leaving him alone for 2 hours? Maybe 3?

"No, I don't." there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Don't sound so excited. I have a friend who lives in the apartment above ours who'll be checking in on you. So no funny stuff."

Naruto nodded slowly, letting his words sink in. "What kind of friend?"

Iruka blushed, then quickly pushed it back down. "He's just a _friend. _God, why does everything have to be so immature with you?"

Naruto scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Since when does asking a question count as being immature? I was just curious about your boyfriend."

"He's not my..." Iruka sighed. " I need you to start unpacking while I'm gone. The sooner, the better. Maybe my friend's son can help you. He's about your age, maybe you two can-"

"Be friends? No thank you." Naruto spat. He didn't have a place in his heart for anyone at this place.

"Look...I know this is hard for you, but being angsty every minute isn't going to make your life any better," Iruka hesitated before adding the last part. "maybe Kiba can visit too. I talked to his mother, and apparently, his aunt lives out here too."

Naruto turned and looked at Iruka disbelievingly. "Are you serious?"

Iruka nodded, his eyes shifting between the road and Naruto's face. "Yup. If its okay with his family, he can stay with us on the weekends."

Naruto continued to stare at Iruka, then allowed a small smile to creep up on his face. "That's...perfect." Naruto turned back to the window, but that couldn't hide the giant grin on his face. Iruka's eyes softened at the boy. Naruto hardly smiled anymore, and he was glad that a small thing like his best friend visiting could make him happy for the moment. The rest of the ride was a quiet one, and all Naruto wanted to do was run inside and call Kiba. Seeing the spiky-haired brunette on the weekends couldn't compare to seeing him everyday, but it was better than not seeing him at all.

Iruka pulled up to the front of the apartment and let the blonde teenager out of the car. "I left food in the fridge. And make sure your phone is on at all times! I'll call, and if you don't answer-"

Naruto held up his hand as he fished his key from his pocket. "Iruka, I can handle this."

Iruka seemed hesitant to let Naruto stay home alone, that was obvious, but it wasn't because he was afraid of getting his things trashed or hidden. No, he was just worried about Naruto and what he would do to himself. Because Iruka knew that behind 'whatever' and ' I can handle this', there was pain and loneliness and anger no one could possibly understand. Iruka wished he could help the boy, understand even, but he was always shut out. That's why he had no problem letting Naruto see Kiba Inuzuka. The wild brunette brought out the best in Naruto, the happiness, the mischievousness and even the argumentive, challenging side the boy rarely showed. A part of Iruka didn't want to move to the city and tear Naruto away from his only source of happiness, but he knew it was time for a change.

"Alright...I'll talk to you later."

Naruto nodded and trotted up the flight of stairs that lead to apartment 307. Naruto fumbled with the keys, forgetting which one was used for the front door and the mailbox. When he finally got the door unlocked, he forcefully pushed the door open, noticing that someone (probably Iruka) put the 'Kitchen Stuff' box directly in front of the door. With a sigh, Naruto kicked the box away and slammed the door closed. He tossed his keys on the counter, put instant ramen in the microwave and went to his bare, so-called room. The movers hadn't delivered any furniture, so Iruka set up air mattresses in every room. Naruto stripped himself of everything excluding his boxers and flopped on the mattress with a dull SMACK.

Naruto glared at the ceiling. "I hate this place." he whispered. Sure, he'd only been here less than five hours, but those measly four hours was enough to make him want to go home. And he was homesick.

The blonde rolled over and retrieved the thick, black sketchbook that rested on the side of his bed. He grabbed the pen that was next to it and turned back over. Naruto lifted his knees and positioned the book so it was steady. The sketchbook only had a few doodles in them, and maybe six or seven complete pictures. Some of the complete pictures consisted only of landscape and scenery paintings. The others-which he would never openly admit-were portraits of Kiba. A smiling Kiba, a happy, sad, angry Kiba. There were even some pictures of the two together, holding hands, kissing, laughing together...Kiba. The truth was, Kiba and Naruto had been dating for three years now. The brunette always knew how to comfort the blonde when he was so low, there was no way he could possibly get by alone.

Naruto sighed as he looked at the pictures, the pessimistic thoughts of never seeing him again floating through his head. When thtey found out Naruto was moving, they never officially called off the relationship, just put it on hold. And now, Naruto, Naruto desperately needed him, his smile, his comfort, his touch. All of him.

Naruto slowly started sketching a big circle. He defined the edges of the circle, making the shape of a head. Naruto was thinking about drawing Kiba, but the spiky hair was a little more tamed in the front, the eyes darker and the facial features, softer. There was a hand extending to a small, cute mouth, holding a triangular shaped snack.

Naruto glared at what he absentmindedly drew. It was, of course, the sandwich steaker from drew him just as he remembered, handsome and seemingly perfect.

"Ugh..." Naruto threw the book aside and hopped out of the bed, then walked over to his radio and turned it up as far as it would go. When he changed the station to the loudest, most obnoxious music possible, he sighed in relief. Naruto felt instantly at hime, because nothing soothed him more than loud, crazy music. Not moments after Naruto turned the music on, he could hear the doorbell ringing to the National Anthem. He scoffed and ignored it at first, but the ringing turned into a loud banging, which interrupted Naruto's current favorite song. Ghosts N Stuff.

"I'm coming! Dammit..." Naruto hurried out of bed and stomped across the apartment. He swiftly opened the locks and swung the door open. "Look, if the music is too fucking loud, I'll turn it down. Just stop knocking at my door..." Naruto trailed off as he eyes the two men ini front of him. One was a silver-haired man with a bandana around his mouth. Naruto glared, thinking he was some kind of thug. But the two smiling eyes that looked back at him changed his mind. One of his eyes were coal black, maybe dark brown, and his other was crimson, a long scar above and below his lids. The man's hair defied gravity as it shifted to the side, and Naruto hoped one day he could achieve that hairstyle.

"Hello new neighbor! I'm Kakashi Hatake and I'm a friend of Iruka's. And this is-"

Naruto took one look at the boy next to Kakashi and slammed the door shut, breathing quickly and angrily. He didn't need the silver-haired man to introduce the boy, because Naruto recognized him as the same Sanwich Eater from before. His onyx eyes were still narrowed smugly, his mouth downwardly slanted and his brows furrowed. His hair even seemed to be spiked angrily (if that was possible). Naruto sighed and walked away from the door, switching the radio back on.

"Stupid sandwich stealin' bastard."

**sigh... new story indeed. Hopefully it was ok, and if the ending was rushed, it's because I'm sneaking on the computer :D love you guys and review! Tell your friends, friends tell your friends...etc**

**-Jazz Out**


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